Armchair Chronicles
by Kevorkian
Summary: This was an old piece I had on my hard drive from several months ago. It's complete, and beta'd by timkhj. BBxRae, but not exactly fluff?
1. Argument

**Author's Note: **_By my count, this is my first update in 5 months. Unfortunately, it's nothing new, it's jsut been sitting on my hard drive, completed..._

_I do not own Teen Titans, Sherlock Holmes, or related materials._

He sighed. "Cyborg, I think we need to talk. Could you come sit here, please?"

The half metal teen's eyebrow arched, but when Robin was like this, he knew better than to ask questions. He moved to comply with Robin's request, sinking into the armchair opposite Robin. "What's the problem?"

Robin sighed again, before looking to the side at the carpet. Looking up again, he formed his response. "Well, there's no easy way to say this, so I'll be blunt. And no wisecracks about my bluntness or anything else, Cyborg. I'm serious.

"This is about Beastboy and Raven. They've both been chewing each other out more than usual lately. In fact, they've been straining themselves so much, trying to come up with good comebacks and rebuttals to each other, lately, that their combat performance is declining. They're losing their fighting edge, and they're dragging the team down. I don't want to do anything stupid, but at this point I'm really not seeing any other alternative. I'm going to have to kick one or both of them off of the team.

"But, I'm just unsure about it, I guess. I have a bad feeling about doing that. I know that as a leader I'm supposed to be able to make good calls quickly, but this...this is different. Nothing feels good, and I'm not confident about anything enough to do it. It's driving me insane! I'm _always_ confident, I can _always_ spot the correct solution; it's why I'm such a good leader! But now...now it's _gone, _and I don't know what to do."

He rested his head in his hands for a few moments, then absentmindedly started running his hand through his hair, as he listened to Cyborg sigh and lick his lips before replying.

"Well Robin, I don't really know what to tell you. Well, yes, I do, but I don't know how to say it. Ah...just leave Beastboy and Raven alone; let them be." Seeing the confused expression of Robin's face, he surpressed a grin, and held up a hand. "Let me finish.

"Raven and Beastboy...are kind of like Beastboy and me. Allow me to explain. As I'm sure you well know, most mornings, several lunches, and numerous dinners, we have arguements. Loud, obnoxious, viscious arguements, that sometimes have a tendancy to lead to physical violence. We have these arguements over other things as well; chiefly among those are video games, driving the T-Car, and the plausibility of having a moped. However, the subject of these arguements is irrelevant. What's more important, is our ability to drop the arguement at a moment's notice -for example, if there's a battle- and start it fresh the next time the issue is raised. Case in point: animal based foods versus non-animal-based foods, specifically, at the breakfast table. Virtually every morning, we argue over pretty much everything you could potentially debate between meat and tofu -that is, the most specifically recurring arguement-, ranging from cost, to color, to density, to texture, to taste.

"This, you all know. What you don't know is that we don't argue about everything, every day. Instead, we pick specific things in each arguement; if you pay attention closely, you'll notice the same thing is true of Beastboy's 'arguements' with Raven. While they used to all be about Beastboy's jokes, now they dispute a range of topics covering everything from tea to messy rooms.

"'So what?' you ask. Well, that's just the thing; you don't understand it, not yet anyway. What we argue about is what we _want_ to argue about. Allow me to rephrase it; by specifically arguing about something, we're sending the other person a message, a sort of 'code', if you will. In that fashion, what we are talking about, truly doesn't matter. It's what we mean. It's almost a foreign language, except it isn't. It's English, or rather, 'Beastboy Language'.

"Sure, it's weird. But it's how he communicates. You witnessed it yourself, firsthand. Remember when he turned into the Beast, and you wouldn't let him not remember? And all those times about Terra? Yeah. With the Beast, he was telling you that he couldn't remember; he was hiding the truth from himself, because he knew he would be hurt by revealing it. And with Terra, it was similar. He was trying to come to terms with her betrayal, and he was both venting his frustration at his inability to do so, and asking you to help him through it.

"And to answer your next question, I only have my theories about where it comes from. I'm the guy's best friend, I'm the brother he never had, and even I don't know for certain. You'd have to ask him to know for certain, but he's not ready to reveal it yet, at least not to me. But personally, I think it was the Doom Patrol, and the Brotherhood of Evil. He had to grow up, to entirely abandon his childhood. He didn't know anyone his age, or have anyone to play with. And if that weren't enough, half of the adults he knew were trying to kill him. Poor guy. I'm just glad he's got us, and he's found a way of expressing himself, rather than being even more dangerous."

Robin, who had listened intently to Cyborg's speech, got up and started pacing, thinking silently about what had been said. Cyborg waited patiently for him to make the next connection.

Robin stopped pacing, snapped his fingers, and turned to look at Cyborg. "So then, what's that make Raven? He argues with you, and like you said, you're like a brother to him. He's argues with me, but we're nowhere near as close as you or Raven. And Starfire, he once got into a dispute with her, but that was because of a stupid prank, and not a yelling fight. But what about Raven?" Robin began to pace again, while Cyborg waited patiently. Suddenly, Robin stopped and pivoted towards Cyborg. "Does he love her?"

Cyborg smiled; Robin had made the connection at last. "He loves all of us, Robin. We're his roommates, his teammates, his family. However, that's not what you mean." Cyborg leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, and staring into space, while he formulated his next statement. "Yes, yes he does. The real question is, does he know it yet?

"I'm afraid that only time will tell, Robin. We're not either Raven or Beastboy, and if we ask them, we might cause some undesired consequences. No, only time will tell. First, he must admit it to himself, and then to her. And we don't know how that will work. Hmmm. We'll just have to wait and see, Robin. Wait and see."


	2. Relationship

Robin pondered this for a moment, while Cyborg rose and poured himself a drink. When he returned to his seat, Robin vocalized his next progression of thought.

"So, how does Raven feel? Does she understand what the arguements are, what they mean? And if so, how does she feel about Beastboy? Does she...love him back?" Robin frowned, he hated guessing things, and not knowing them for certain. It was how mistakes were made, and in his line of business, mistakes could be deadly, or at the very least, extremely costly. "And, okay, I misunderstood the arguements. According to you, they're growing closer together, rather than farther apart. But even so, their combat performance is dropping. But I'd hate to meddle in their personal lives, as much as we are teammates and it affects us, too. I...I think we _are _going to have to confront them."

Cyborg sighed, and steepled his fingers. He rested his chin on his thumbs, and closed his eyes, deep in thought. "I don't know. Let's walk through it from Raven's perspective.

"She knows what the arguements are, what they mean. That much, is certain. Does she love him back? Hmmm. Actually, I think she does. She's pressing the relationship just as much as Beastboy, really. She's always quick to counter one of Beastboy's jokes with a perfectly formulated sarcastic remark, and she never backs down from a potential arguement. And, like I said, she knows what they mean. Therefore, she's 'talking' to Beastboy just as much as he is to her. Even more surprisingly, she's the one that took their relationship to the next level. Notice that she's not as withdrawn as before? She's more open. In fact, she started the voluntary human contact between them. Think back to Tokyo.

"In Tokyo, she smacked his head a total of three times. Not as an attempt to provoke a fight or arguement, but to have an excuse to invoke physical contact, to _show affection_. It's a combination of their respective styles, see; holding hands just isn't their thing. Beastboy's style involves arguing, verbal sparring; Raven's involves inflicting some sort of pain on the other person, physical fighting. By smacking his head, she's doing two things; showing affection, in their rough equivalent of holding hands, and she's combining both of their styles into one; it symbolizes union, or at the least, a relationship." Cyborg chuckled. "But, of course, maybe I'm simply being too analyctical."

Robin nodded, showing his understanding, though he was frowning, clearly deep in thought. "So, I guess they're officially a couple now." He was interrupted from his thought process by a bellow of hearty laughter from his friend.

"Officially secretly! No, they're not ready to publicly declare it; in fact, they're not even ready to declare it to each other. They haven't even gone on a date! No, they're not ready to declare their relationship so openly; they're not you and Starfire. But hey, at least it didn't take Raven three tries to hit Beastboy!" Cyborg made kissy motions with his lips, adding the proper sound effects to get the desired reaction from Robin.

Blushing profusely, Robin stuttered profusely, "Sh-Shut Up! B-But how d-did you know?"

Cyborg roared with laughter. "As if it wasn't obvious! Maybe it escaped Beastboy the second time, but Raven and I sure noticed what we interrupted! And the first time, there were only so many things you two could be doing that would make your communicator's locator signals to be that close to each other."

Robin stopped blushing and paled noticeably. "Whatever happened to secrecy? Besides, why where you tracking our communicators? Weren't you pre-occupied with that buffet?"

Cyborg grinned ruefully. "Yes, yes I was. But I went over the logs of where your communicator had been when I saw that you had been thrown in jail. And remember, I have a robotic brain, so I can process that sort of information a _lot _faster than any normal human can." His smile wavered for a moment. "But we're supposed to be discussing Raven and Beastboy, oh fearless leader."

Robin scowled once more at Cyborg's smirk. "Okay, Mr. I-Can-Think-Circles-Around-You, what about their declining combat abilities? What do I do? What do _we _do?"

Cyborg considered the question. "Well, I suppose that it could pose a problem. I don't like it, but you may be right. We may well have to talk to them." He frowned, then sighed in resignation. "Yeah, I'm not coming up with any alternatives. Unless you have a better idea, I'll go fetch Beastboy; he's easier for me to talk to than Raven."


	3. Admittance

Beastboy walked in, glancing around the room. Walking over to where Robin sat on the couch, he surveyed the area. Choosing the armchair Cyborg had formerly occupied, he plopped down comfortably, and looked from Robin to Cyborg, who, entering the room after Beastboy, had chosen to sit next to Robin on the couch. Cyborg sighed and did a good impression of Raven rubbing her temples. Robin nodded to him, and Cyborg vainly tried to start the conversation off slowly.

"So, Beastboy. There really isn't an easy way to say this, so I'll get to the point. You don't like Terra. You never did; your infatuation with her was a result of normal teenage hormones that, when experiencing the first time, you couldn't control. No, this isn't about her. It's about you.

"Dealing with her betrayal, and her ultimate ignorance of the whole ordeal -if indeed, that girl was the real Terra- , was harsh on all of us, but most especially you. You trusted her more than anything in the world, you cared for her, you practically kissed her. But, it was not meant to be, and she ended any chance of your relationship ever getting anywhere. And like I said, you took it the worst.

"What happened after that is debatable for us, since we're not you and truly can't tell what happened, from your perspective. What we can tell, is that you recovered. The question is, how? How did you recover? You recovered because of her; you recovered because of Raven. I'm not going to go into details on how or why, because I don't know them. We don't know them. But we don't need to know them. That's none of our business. Neither should your relationship with Raven be any of our business; but it is now." Cyborg motioned for Robin to pick up where he had left off. Robin cleared his throat, then proceeded to take the reigns Cyborg had left him, and steer this conversation in the right direction.

"What he means is that you're both starting to cause problems for the team. Specifically, both of your abilities in combat have been suffering of late; my conclusion is that you're distracted. And distraction isn't good for you, her, or the team. It can lead to problems and complications; as can the relationship in the first place. But, being a person in a relationship myself, I know better than to try to tell you two to stop feeling for each other; it would never work, and just cause more problems. Instead, we need to talk it out. I hope you can understand that?"

Beastboy nodded, then began to stare into space, clearly thinking. Robin and Cyborg decided to give him some time, and busied themselves with small, pointless tasks, exchanging glances from time to time, and stealing looks at their green friend. Suddenly, the silence was repulsed, and everyone turned to look at Raven as she walked through the doors. She noticed everyone's attention on her, and Beastboy's...shyness. "What?" she asked no one in particular. Raising an eyebrow, she said nothing, but complied with Cyborg's hand gesture to come and join them. Seating herself in the armchair next to Beastboy, she turned to face Robin and Cyborg, but in such a fashion that she was still open to Beastboy. Robin was the first to speak.

"First, I'd just like to say that we are being entirely serious about what we're about to discuss. I assure you that we are not kidding, joking, or playing a prank of any kind. What we are about to discuss is of the utmost sincerity, so please spare us the jokes or sarcastic remarks.

"Now, with that out of the way, we are here now, Raven, to discuss your and Beastboy's relationship." He held up a hand to prevent an outburst. "Don't try to tell us that you don't have one. That's bull, and we all know it. We all know you have one, as abnormal as it may be. However, I'm afraid that's what we have to discuss right here. Cyborg, if you will?"

Cyborg sighed, licked his lips, and prepared to continue Robin's tirade. "We're talking about your relationship because both of your combat performances have been dropping. Our conclusion is that you're both distracted; and by each other. So, I'm afraid, we're going to have a little "inquisition" into your personal lives here. Sorry to make you feel like you're on Jerry Springer, but it's a necessity. Let's start with Beastboy. Sorry to put you on the spot, BB, but you've been here longer than Raven. How do you feel about her?"

Beastboy ran his hand through his hair a few times and looked downward as he talked, presumably to hide his facial expression. "I-I really don't know. She's gorgeous, she's witty, she's a genius with sarcasm, she has an intriguing personality, and she is just _beyond comparison_. I'm..._speechless_ trying to describe her. I...I really like her, maybe I even...lo..._love_ her...but as you were saying earlier, Terra was only an infatuation, and I don't know what true love feels like."

Robin and Cyborg accepted this, nodding to encourage Beastboy. Raven was noticeably blushing, and she lifted her hood over her head to mask her face. The boys realized her predicament and gave her a few moments of silence to collect herself.

A feminine voice cleared her throat. Robin and Cyborg, who had been looking genially anywhere but at Raven, gave her their full attention. Beastboy had had his eyes closed, and had seemed to be in an almost meditative state. He opened his eyes and awoke from his trance, and gazed passively at Raven. It was her turn to inspect the floor while she spoke. "Okay."

Cyborg kept it short and simple. "Same question, to you. How do you feel about Beastboy, Raven?" She sighed, then started to softly speak, after a noticeable pause.

"I don't really know either. As much as it pains me to admit it, he is funny, sometimes, and the skin and ears are kind of...cute. And his persistence is...endearing. But whenever I'm around him...I...I feel...weird, but in a good way. The feeling is alien to me, except for that one time...but it's not unpleasant. I..._guess_ it might be...love."

Hearing this, Robin and Cyborg smiled at each other. Beastboy's face was flushed red, but while he was clearly embarrassed, he was smiling broadly. He got up, and strode to Raven's chair. Sensing his presence, she looked up. He grinned madly, then hauled her up and pulled her into a kiss. Robin and Cyborg gaped at each other and stared, dumbstruck, at their two friends making out in front of them.

Suddenly, the doors whooshed open, and a very high pitched shriek could be heard from the doorway. Starfire flew over to the rest of the titans, and Raven and Beastboy pulled apart. "Friends! It is good to see that friends Beastboy and Raven are doing the 'dating' and the 'making out'!" She beamed, and pulled all of the titans together into a group hug. "We must celebrate! I will go prepare the traditional zorka berry pie!" She raced off, and the bewildered titans looked at each other. Suddenly, Cyborg started laughing. He patted Robin on the shoulder and walked off, still laughing. Robin frowned, then followed him.

Beastboy and Raven watched them go. After the doors closed, Beastboy turned towards Raven. He leaned in close to her, and pulled her hood down. "Combat performance declining, my ass." He smiled. "But I'm happy all the same."


End file.
